Rome will tax tourists
Rome plans to go ahead with an accommodation tax on January 1 next year, it was confirmed this week.
The city council said the ‘Contributo di Soggiorno’ would be introduced despite concerns from the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) about how the money would be collected.
According to the ETOA, councillor Frederico Guidi said: "In order for the city of Rome not to tax Romans, we have decided to tax the tourists."
The tax will be €3 per night for guests at four and five star hotels and €2 per night for guests staying in all other accommodation. Children under 2 and youth hostels are the only exemptions from the tax.
The levy will be paid on the spot before check-out by the guest. The maximum number of nights taxable per stay is 10.
Guests will be advised about the tax upon arrival by written notices, in different languages.
Starting from 1st January, hotels will have to collect the tax from their guests; but they may wait to transfer the money until July.
UK tour operators can collect the money on their clients’ behalf in advance, but the ETOA said: "’This is like being on a plane and being charged extra to leave. As the Comune will be extracting money with an ‘instant’ tax, tour operators should not be expected to do this work for them".
It has not been clarified if the tax attracts IVA (VAT). Alessandro Vannini, President of the Commission for Tourism and Fashion, conceded that the first few months could be chaotic.
The Comune says it will allocate 5% of the total € 80million the tax is expected to generate to "generic tourist services", but it has not specified which hones.
This tax is not finalised, though implementation seems likely, said the ETOA. The final confirmation is unlikely to come before the 20th of December and it may yet be challenged in the local courts.
In the meantime ETOA will be producing an advisory for members to share with clients and business partners to explain the situation in clear terms.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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